Can I just say, WHAT AN INFORMATIVE SITE :D . WELL DONE!!
My question is, I wish to install power down to the shed and a few power points in the garden for lights and water feature. The CU is RCD protected, so I want to take the radial circuit from the ring main.
Can I replace an exsisting socket with an Active RCD Socket and tap into the back of it? Will the RCD in the socket protect the radial circuit?
If not, would it be ok to tap straight into the ring main and use the CU RCD as protection. I will be fitting and RCD protected socket at the furthest point also.

[quote="aaron.71"]Can I just say, WHAT AN INFORMATIVE SITE :D . WELL DONE!!
My question is, I wish to install power down to the shed and a few power points in the garden for lights and water feature. The CU is RCD protected, so I want to take the radial circuit from the ring main.
Can I replace an exsisting socket with an Active RCD Socket and tap into the back of it? Will the RCD in the socket protect the radial circuit?
If not, would it be ok to tap straight into the ring main and use the CU RCD as protection. I will be fitting and RCD protected socket at the furthest point also.

Many thanks for your reply. unfortunatly there are no answers to my query through the link bekow.
I would like to know if I can replace a standard socket with an active RCD socket and install a readial circuit off the back of the socket? Would the RCD protect the radial circuit or not?
I'm not familiar with the conection terminals on the back of an RCD socket.

my suggestion would be to comply to part p regs and get an part p qualified sparks to do this. your plan to place a radial socket on a ring main with an RCD worries me. other considerations like voltage drop and ambient temperatures, cable types and the installation to 16th edition wiring regulations all have to be considered and complied to - sorry for being all regullified but you ever know it or you don't, problem with electrics is that if you don't know it you might not get a second chance. hope this helps.

Hi Aaron.71. simplest way is to add another mcb to your consumer unit rated at least 16A. Run 2.5mm T&E from this to your shed in conduit or use armoured cable for outdoor run. Add another cu in your shed which will be fed from this supply. For extra protection this should be an RCD unit, so that anything fed from this that has an earth leakage will only trip this cu out and not your main house cu. Shed cu should have at least 2 mcb's. One for lighting and one for power. You can then use the mcb's to split power for your lights in garden and power for shed. If you need alot of power in shed, then suggest your mcb in your main box is rated 32A, run 6mm T&E from this and 4mm armoured cable outside. Hope this helps.

[color=red][b]YOU WILL NEED THIS WORK CERTIFIED BY A QUALIFIED PART P ELECTRICIAN AS IT IS A NEW OUTSIDE CIRCUIT. THIS IS A LEGAL REQUIREMENT.[/b][/color]

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